The First Women’s Rights Convention in Seneca Falls, New York closed on July 20, 1848. More than two hundred women had the audacity to leave their homes, travel to upstate New York, and meet for two days to discuss their place in society. About sixty men joined them. History remembers some of their names: Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Lucretia Mott, Martha Wright, Mary Ann McClintock, Jane Hunt, and Frederick Douglass. Their meeting created a Declaration of Sentiments of women’s rights. Their courage created a social movement that endures, with many accomplishments to its credit.
Susan B. Anthony, Sojourner Truth, Harriet Tubman, Lucy Stone, Betty Friedan, Gloria Steinem, Florynce Kennedy, Shirley Chisholm, and millions of others, joined later. These women, their colleagues, and their followers are principal forces in all American social endeavors: the Abolitionist, Suffrage, Labor, Civil Rights, Peace, LGBT, and Feminist Movements.
It was a long and difficult road, but their work, teaching, and support brought important legal rights to American women, and changed social attitudes:
• the right to vote
• the power to control their own property, including their money
• better opportunities in education and employment
• equal athletic opportunities in schools
• elected office and powerful political positions
In the late 1970s, conservatives cultivated an absurd and morbid fear of the proposed Equal Rights Amendment. They told us that it would force women to serve in the military, and live in the same barracks as men. They told us that prisons, public restrooms, and department store fitting rooms would all be unisex. They told us that the sky would fall in upon us. Sound familiar?
The modern Equal Rights Amendment, introduced in 1972, has not yet been ratified. However, it has been part of the Pennsylvania Constitution since 1971. And gee. None of that bad stuff happened.
There are five chapters of the National Organization for Women in the Pittsburgh area.
Today, the Women’s Rights National Historical Park, on the site of the Seneca Falls convention, honors those women and their accomplishments. It’s worth your time to visit if you’re nearby.
Stand up for your principles, even if you stand alone.
They did it.
You can do it too.
For more information:
• Pennsylvania Constitution (Article I, Section 28)
• Women’s Rights National Historical Park
• National Organization for Women
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On July 21, 1887, state troops in Pittsburgh killed 20 striking railroad workers.
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Comments
Thank you for the great summary of the 1st Women's Rights Convention. At the end you mention that part of the "sprit" of this Convention lives on in the National Organization for Women. You then link to the National NOW website. We also have a state website at panow.org. Check here for regular updates on what's happening in the state and to become a member. Thank you!
Joanne Tosti-Vasey, President, Pennsylvania NOW, Inc.
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